This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/oct/19/canada-election-justin-trudeau-stephen-harper
The article has changed 16 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 10 | Version 11 |
|---|---|
| Canada election: Trudeau promises change after Liberals rout Conservatives | |
| (2 months later) | |
| 2.38am ET07:38 | |
| We’re wrapping up this live blog now, but keeping up with all the fallout and reaction over on our new blog here: | |
| Related: Canada election: Trudeau hails Liberal win as Harper steps down as leader – live | |
| Before you go, here’s how the night panned out: | |
| This is what positive politics can do. This is what a positive, hopeful, a hopeful vision, and a platform and a team together can make happen. | |
| Canadians from all across this great country sent a clear message tonight, it’s time for a change in this country, my friends, a real change. | |
| Canadians have turned the page on 10 long years. They have rejected the politics of fear and division. | |
| 2.17am ET07:17 | |
| The civilised finish of the vote counting means no early-hours scramble to get the result into the morning papers: | |
| "Trudeau triumphs." A sneak peak of tomorrow's front page #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/VcLB46JnzE | |
| 1.58am ET06:58 | |
| Although he decided not to mention it in his speech earlier, outgoing prime minister Stephen Harper is stepping down as leader of the Conservatives. | |
| Speaking to supporters in Calgary after it became apparent that Liberal leader Justin Trudeau had ousted him, Harper conceded: “The people are never wrong.” | |
| 1.53am ET06:53 | |
| Turnout for the election was 65.5% (that’s with 96.69% of ridings having reported). | |
| That’s a boost on 2011’s 61.1%, and the 58.8% recorded in 2008. | |
| 1.42am ET06:42 | |
| The prime minister-elect is keen to get going: | |
| Ready. #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/UaH4MLArNH | |
| 1.32am ET06:32 | |
| Trudeau's policies: a primer | |
| Claire Phipps | |
| Hello, this is Claire Phipps taking over from Alan Yuhas as the fallout continues from the Liberals’ stunning victory over Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. | |
| With an outright majority under his belt, what will be Justin Trudeau’s priorities as a new prime minister? Here’s what he said before the election: | |
| Trudeau on climate change | |
| He has promised a climate change policy agreed with the provinces within 90 days of the UN climate change summit in Paris in November. | |
| On indigenous rights | |
| “We will build a renewed relationship with indigenous peoples on a nation-to-nation basis,” he has said. “That will include, for example, a national public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It will include $2.6bn over four years for First Nations education.” | |
| On abortion | |
| He is pro-choice: “It is not for any government to legislate what a woman chooses to do with her body. And that is the bottom line.” | |
| On taxes | |
| His first move will be to raise taxes on the richest 1% to fund cuts for the middle classes. | |
| On marijuana | |
| Trudeau has said he would start moves to legalise it “right away”, based on theColorado model. | |
| On feminism | |
| I am a feminist. I’m proud to be a feminist. #upfordebate | |
| You can read more here: | |
| Related: Justin Trudeau: who is Canada's new prime minister? | |
| 1.13am ET06:13 | |
| Summary | |
| My colleague Claire Phipps is going to take over our live coverage of the election, which ended with a stunning victory for the Liberal party of Justin Trudeau and an end to the nearly 10-year tenure of Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. | |
| 1.06am ET06:06 | |
| My colleague Nicky Woolf is in Calgary, where the Conservatives are trying to put on a brave face after the election defeat and news that prime minister Stephen Harper will step down as party leader. | |
| After Harper had finished speaking, the bright lights came on and the room emptied quickly and without much ceremony. Zach Isaac, a 25-year-old party volunteer from Calgary, who was one of the loudest cheerers during Harper’s speech and was festooned with buttons and signs, told the Guardian that while he was disappointed that Canadians picked “the opposite of a fiscally responsible agenda,” he was nonetheless “very pleased to see the death of the federal NDP.” | |
| “I will be celebrating the death of the NDP all night,” he said, showing the Guardian a badge that had the NDP in a crossed circle sign. | |
| “It’s pretty sad,” said Kevin Thiessen, a Conservative party member originally from Ontario, adding that he was “pretty disappointed” with his home province. “I feel kinda betrayed by Ontario,” he said. “The last election, they saved the day. Now where the hell are they?” | |
| Standing with him was his friend Nathaniel Milljour, a cartoonist for the National Firearms Association, the Canadian equivalent of the American National Rifle Association. “Harper got bashed on social media for things that didn’t exist,” he said. “He was betrayed, though. It’s unforgivable. And it’s Ontario that did the back-stabbing.” | |
| Updated at 1.39am ET | |
| 12.46am ET05:46 | |
| Trudeau’s challenges will begin almost immediately, my colleague Suzanne Goldenberg writes from Washington, starting with Canada’s climate change policy. | |
| Canada’s new PM has committed to restoring environmental laws and budgets dismantled by Harper, but on the two biggest issues – Keystone XL pipeline and emissions reductions target – Trudeau is bound to disappoint. | |
| Trudeau, despite attacking Harper for his pro-oil, anti-climate positions, is for the Keystone XL pipeline, the project that more than any other has symbolised the deep divisions over the future of the vast carbon reserves known as the Alberta tar sands. | |
| And he has resisted setting a target for cutting carbon pollution. Instead, Trudeau has offered only to meet with provincial leaders and come up with a plan to put a price on carbon and fight climate change within 90 days of the election. | |
| On the plus side, Trudeau is prepared to talk about climate change – unlike Harper who gave the issue short shrift. Trudeau has also committed to setting up a $2bn fund to help the country move to a low carbon economy. | |
| Expect some interesting phone conversations with Barack Obama when the US president calls to offer his congratulations. The relationship between Obama and Harper was notably frosty, in large part because of Harper’s persistent lobbying for the Keystone XL, and his determination to expand the tar sands and turn Canada into an energy superpower. | |
| 12.37am ET05:37 | |
| Trudeau: 'we beat fear with hope' | |
| “We beat fear with hope, we beat cynicism with hard work. We beat negative, divisive politics with a positive vision that brings Canadians together,” Trudeau says, heading toward the end of his speech. | |
| “Most of all we defeated the idea that Canadians should be satisfied with less, that good enough is good enough, and that better just isn’t possible. Well, my friends, this is Canada, and in Canada better is always possible.” | |
| And with that Trudeau gives his parting waves to the crowd, wife at his side, and slowly works his way off stage. | |
| Updated at 12.39am ET | |
| 12.35am ET05:35 | |
| Trudeau wraps up his victory speech by promising to “make that vision a reality” that Canadians have asked for, and that he pledges to listen to all the voters who came out to the polls. | |
| He concludes with a story about meeting a Muslim mother who told him she was voting Liberal because “she wants to make sure that her little girl has the right to make her own choices in life, and that the government will protect those rights.” | |
| “Canada was built by people from all corners of the world,” he says, an implicit repudiation of some of the Harper administration’s policies. “We believe in our hearts that this country’s unique diversity is a blessing bestowed upon us by previous generations of Canadians. Canadians who stared down prejudice and discrimination in all its forms.” | |
| He says that Canadians “know in their heart of hearts that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian”. | |
| 12.29am ET05:29 | |
| The prime minister elect then takes a few shots at his predecessor and the Conservative government, saying that Canadians want a country that is stronger not “in spite of its differences, but because of them”. | |
| He adds government transparency, trust in its citizens, the rights of indigenous people and a few other items on the laundry list of progressive complaints with the Harper administration. | |
| 12.27am ET05:27 | |
| Trudeau turns around the campaign acclaim onto the crowd, and by the millions of Canadians who voted Liberal: “I didn’t make history tonight, you did.” | |
| Over the past three years you told us what you’re going through. You told us it’s getting harder and harder to make endsmeet. You told us you’re worried about whether you’ll be able to afford a dignified retirement. … You are the inspiration for our efforts, you are the reason we worked so hard to be where we are tonight, and you will be at the heart of this new government. | |
| Trudeau says his message to his fellow citizens “is simple”: “Have faith in your fellow citizens and country … Know that we can make anything happen if we work hard.” | |
| 12.24am ET05:24 | |
| “Lots of people are going to have lots of opinions about why we were successful,” Trudeau says. “Well for three years we had a very old fashioned strategy, we met with and we talked with them, and we listened.” | |
| He says he met with people in the Arctic, in Brampton, and that Canadians – “you” – “built this platform, you built this movement. You told us what you need to be successful, you told us what government you want to have.” | |
| The cheers keep coming after nearly ever opportunity the crowd gets, with a smattering of more idiosyncratic shouts in the mix. | |
| Small group in the back of the crowd yell "legalize weed!" during Trudeau's victory speech. | |
| 12.21am ET05:21 | |
| “All of these people had one thing in common, they cared deeply about their families, their neighbors and their country,” Trudeau says of the volunteers in his campaign. “They believe that better is possible and that active citizens can play a real part in making it happen.” | |
| “I want to take a moment to speak about my colleagues across the aisle,” he continues. “Stephen Harper has served this country for a decade,” he says, “and as with anyone [who devotes themselvest to service] we thank him for his service.” | |
| Trudeau recalls a conversation with Harper about their respective families, and says there’s a lesson there for Canadians. “I want to remind everyone, as I’ve said many times over the course of this campaign, conservatives are not our enemies, they’re our neighbors.” | |
| 12.18am ET05:18 | |
| Trudeau is speaking in French, and barely able to speak to the crowd in a hoarse voice over their frequent cheers. Back in English, he thanks his friends, his district, his team and supporters, who helped show him: “you can appeal to the better angels of our nature, and you can win while doing it.” | |
| “Tonight my very good friends, we proved that. I hope it is an inspiration to like-minded people to step up and pitch in. To get involved in the public life in this country and to know that a positive, optimistic, hopeful vision of public life isn’t a naive dream, it can be a powerful force for change.” | |
| Trudeau: there will be different moments as the children of a PM but Dad will be there for you. | |
| 12.14am ET05:14 | |
| Trudeau: Canadians elect for change | |
| “Sunny ways, my friends, sunny ways,” Trudeau begins. “This is what positive politics can do. This is what a positive, hopeful, a hopeful vision, and a platform and a team together can make happen. | |
| “Canadians from all across this great country sent a clear message tonight, it’s time for a change in this country, my friends, a real change.” | |
| Updated at 12.52am ET | |
| 12.10am ET05:10 | |
| Trudeau is arriving on stage now at the Liberal headquarters, also in Montreal – the cheers and applause are drowning out the speakers, and the crowds are thronging for high-fives and cellphone pictures. | |
| 12.06am ET05:06 | |
| Harper finishes his concession speech as if totally unfazed that his nearly 10 years as Canada’s prime minister are coming to an end. | |
| He praises the country and government that his Conservatives have built, saying “This is the Canada to which for the countless generations to come, we will be dedicated.” | |
| "The people are never wrong," Harper says.Tonight's result is one "we accept without hesitation." | |
| And though the Conservative party president announced that Harper will step down as leader, the prime minister himself only alluded to the decision in passing, if that, saying he trusted the people’s decision, accepted their “seventh mandate” and that the party would return stronger than ever in the next election. | |
| No mention of resigning in Harper's speech. #elxn42 | |
| 12.01am ET05:01 | |
| Harper goes on: “This is the seventh mandate you have given me.” | |
| He says he won’t let his constituents down, thanking them emphatically. “Tonight, friends we have been able to elect a strong official opposition to the offices of Parliament.” | |
| “For all of those who have over the past decade and a half built our party and contributed to our campaign, you have our deepest gratitude and should feel nothing but pride.” | |
| “The disappointment you must also feel is my responsibility and mine alone,” he says. “When the next time comes this party will offer Canadians a strong alternative based on strong Canadian values.” | |
| Updated at 12.02am ET | |
| 11.57pm ET04:57 | |
| Harper takes the stage to cheers and chants. “After 11 weeks it feels very good to be here with you at home in Calgary.” | |
| He says he entered public service because “we believe that hard working Canadians should keep more of the money that they earn, because we believe that government should not [intervene in how] manage their money on their own.” | |
| “During the past nine and a half years it has been a great honor to serve as your prime minister.” | |
| “To put it all on the line we gave everything we have to give,” he says, and has no regrets: “how could we, we live in the best country in the world.” | |
| “I have spoken with Mr Trudeau and offered my congratulations, all our congratulations, on his successful campaign.” | |
| He says he has offered his full cooperation in the transition to a new government. | |
| 11.53pm ET04:53 | |
| Stephen Harper steps down as Conservative leader | |
| Conservative president John Walsh has announced that prime minister Stephen Harper will step down as leader of the party, even as Harper takes the podium in Calgary to make a statement himself. | |
| “I have spoken to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and he has instructed me to reach out to the newly elected parliamentary caucus to appoint an Interim Leader,” Walsh wrote in the announcement, “and to the National Council to implement the leadership selection process pursuant to the Conservative Party of Canada constitution.” | |
| Updated at 12.06am ET | |
| 11.51pm ET04:51 | |
| Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, has said that she spoke with Justin Trudeau as well, telling CBC she’s urged the prime-minister elect to get thinking about climate change. | |
| “When can we sit down and talk about the climate conference,” May said she asked Trudeau. “We only have 40 days for Canada to get our act together.” | |
| “I’m very concerned that we have to rebuild the damage that Stephen Harper has done to our laws, to some of our policies, to our reputation in the world.” | |
| Just grabbed #ElizabethMay for a comment on results so https://t.co/NAagINCZwV it is! #CTVElection #GreenParty pic.twitter.com/OR6qMKJKCZ | |
| 11.49pm ET04:49 | |
| Jessica Murphy, in Montreal with the New Democrats, reports on the threatened incumbent Ruth Ellen Brosseau, who preserved her seat from a Liberal challenge. | |
| The single mother became the symbol for a number of NDP ‘paper candidates’ who won in the province in 2011. | |
| The young bar manager didn’t live in the riding – never even visited – barely spoke French, and jetted off to Las Vegas during the campaign. | |
| But she put her head down, practiced her French, and spent nearly every weekend in her riding, eventually winning over the skeptical community. | |
| At this point, New Democrats are holding on to about 35 seats, down from the 103 they won in 2011. | |
| 11.41pm ET04:41 | |
| Mulcair, who won re-election, continues to thank the NDP voters and does not suggest that he will resign as party leader. “New Democrats have made historic contributions to better this country,” he says. “And we will continue.” | |
| “The NDP will always be there for Quebecers, always be a real choice for Quebecers. The next chapter begins in our effort to build a better Canada.” | |
| Meanwhile, at Conservative HQ, my colleague Nicky Woolf finds an even more demure audience awaiting prime minister Stephen Harper. | |
| Sad faces in Calgary tonight #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/vefdaMij6a | |
| The Huffington Post’s Sarah Rieger tweets that “Harper has reportedly called both Trudeau and Mulcair.” | |
| 11.36pm ET04:36 | |
| NDP's Mulcair concedes | |
| “Canadians have turned the page on 10 long years and they have rejected the politics of fear and division,” NDP leader Thomas Mulcair tells his party in Montreal. | |
| He says that the NDP will continue to serve Canadians, and looks forward to working with the new majority government despite the party’s differences with the Liberals and Conservatives. | |
| “We accept [Canadians’] choice in all humility,” he says. “Despite our many differences on policy and on teh way policies should be conducted, I thank Mr Harper for his service to our country. I thank Mr Trudeau for his campaign and commitment to his party.” | |
| In particular, he says that the NDP’s causes of healthcare, fighting climate change and working for indigenous people will remain the party’s priorities. “Canadians have asked us to work for them,” he says. “We will not let them down.” | |
| Updated at 11.36pm ET | |
| 11.31pm ET04:31 | |
| He’s been called scion, boxer, inexperienced, also-ran and “dauphin”, and soon he’ll be prime minister – who is Justin Trudeau? | |
| “Almost literally born to the role of prime minister,” my colleague Claire Phipps writes of the Liberal leader, “he took a circuitous route into political life, trying his hand at teaching, engineering, bungee-jumping coaching, environmental geography, charity boxing and acting.” | |
| But Trudeau’s appeal to the centre ground risked losing out to both its neighbours, the New Democrats to the left and the Conservatives to the right. | |
| What changed? Harper’s tactics, referring to his challenger condescendingly as “Justin” and campaign ads that poked fun at his “nice hair”, found no grip among a section of the electorate that wanted the Conservatives out at all costs, and increasingly saw Trudeau as the best chance of achieving that. | |
| Related: Justin Trudeau: who is Canada's new prime minister? | |
| 11.19pm ET04:19 | |
| The Toronto Blue Jays are winning 11-4 in the eighth, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party is dominating in the polls and projected to win 188 seats. The internet does its work. | |
| Minutes after Trudeau majority declared, this photo starts to trend on Twitter. #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/EryUaGPV1q | |
| 11.13pm ET04:13 | |
| While the scale of the Liberal victory is yet unknown, the fact of the win itself makes history, making this “only the second time in Canada’s history that a party has gone from third place in Parliament to first,” per the BBC’s Anthony Zurcher. | |
| The official election site still gives Liberals a commanding majority of Parliaments 338 seats. | |
| Jessica Murphy, reporting from the Liberal headquarters/discotheque in Montreal, tweets about the band of voters that Conservatives may have been counting on too much. | |
| I guess the shy Tories never showed up.... | |
| 11.04pm ET04:04 | |
| The Liberals have ousted Chris Alexander, minister of citizenship and immigration, from his seat in an important Toronto suburb, Ajax. | |
| Alexander drew stark criticism for the Conservative government’s handling of the Syrian refugee crisis – his office ceased processing refugees at the prime minister’s orders – and over a debate over niqabs and citizenship that was called “disgusting” by the Liberal party. Toronto’s large immigrant population, in particular, was surprised to find itself at the center of a contentious campaign issue … and with the rest of Canada seems to have voiced its opinion, emphatically, at the polls. | |
| Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has lost his seat in Ajax https://t.co/rTv6rmqffb pic.twitter.com/zFygfIZxkb | |
| 10.54pm ET03:54 | |
| The official results site still projects a healthy lead for the Liberals – 11 seats over the threshold for a majority government, thanks in part to surprisingly large leads throughout Quebec and Toronto. | |
| If the Liberals can hold onto their victories in Quebec, it will be the first time the party’s won most of the province since the original Trudeau. No matter what, their victories represent a devastating defeat for the parties most associated with Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois and the separatist Parti Quebecois. The separatists had hoped for a resurgence under flamboyant media tycoon Pierre Karl Peladeau – but even the usually solid Bloc, projected to win only 10 ridings, struggled to make a mark in its home state. | |
| The Liberals have also dominated Toronto, including in ridings where Conservatives thought themselves assured for victories – or at least tough fights. In particular, the riding of former mayor Rob Ford has rode extraordinarily far away from the bombastic family of Conservatives who led the city for four years. | |
| #elxn42 Ford Nation goes... Liberal. pic.twitter.com/XgMfcyje1P | |
| 10.44pm ET03:44 | |
| A tale of two parties. The Liberals in Montreal. | |
| The mood at LPC #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/DV3QFL4LJ0 | |
| And my colleague Nicky Woolf with the Conservatives in Alberta. | |
| Calgary Centre, where we are, just went to the Cons. No surprise there. Atmosphere in the room remains, however, funerial. #elxn42 | |
| 10.38pm ET03:38 | |
| Networks call Liberal majority government | |
| “It’s gonna change before the evening ends but it’s not going to end in any dramatic fashion,” CBC host Peter Mansbridge pronounces in vociferously cautious fashion, shortly before the network declares the Liberals will hold a majority government. | |
| He manages a small exclamation point, though, noting that the Liberals – set to have Justin Trudeau replace Stephen Harper as prime minister – came into the election with only 34 seats, coming off the worst defeat in party history in 2011. | |
| The Canadian news network notes that so far the Liberals look to have an edge throughout much of Toronto, even in a riding where they thought they had little chance. The Globe and Mail also calls it for the Liberals. | |
| Liberal Majority Government - CTV calls s it. | |
| 10.27pm ET03:27 | |
| Liberals projected for majority | |
| Although the projections are not final, the official results page now puts Liberals in command of 179 ridings, 46.9% of the vote, enough for a majority government, but in more than a dozen of those races only a handful of votes separate first and second places, and none of the networks have yet called a majority. | |
| My colleague, reporting from Conservative HQ in Alberta, is less circumspect. | |
| 172 seats - A MAJORITY FOR TRUDEAU. Holy moly. What a massacre. #elxn42 | |
| As a bleak consolation, sitting prime minister, Stephen Harper, has won re-election in his own riding even as his Conservatives have lost the national race to the Liberals. Conservatives are projected to win 97 seats, 28.1% of the vote. | |
| Stephen Harper is declared the winner in his riding. | |
| The NDP has won 22 ridings, per the projection, and 17.8% of the vote. The Bloc Quebecois trails last, with nine ridings and 2.9%. | |
| 10.19pm ET03:19 | |
| My colleague Nicky Woolf, reporting from the Conservative headquarters in Alberta, keeps his voice down but tweets loudly about what looks like a punishing defeat for the party in a critical Toronto suburb. | |
| Liberal Mark Holland *flattens* Cons immigration minister Chris Alexander in the key riding of Ajax, 60-odd percent to 30. Wow. #elxn42 | |
| The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Vieira hears what Guy Giorno, Stephen Harper’s campaign chairman, makes so far of what happened to his man’s push for re-election. | |
| Conservative's Guy Giorno: The NDP underperformed and that hurt us. | |
| With Trudeau’s lead looking unshakeable and victory called by the major networks, two major questions remain: will the Liberals have enough – 170 ridings – to command a majority government, and will Stephen Harper resign as leader of the Conservatives when he steps down as prime minister? | |
| 10.14pm ET03:14 | |
| Conservatives are not out from preventing the Liberals a majority government, writes John Barber from Toronto, one of the most hard fought regions. | |
| The Conservatives are winning 37% of votes cast so far in Ontario, bettering the share accorded to them by pre-election polls. But an ongoing collapse in NDP support has so far put the Liberals far ahead as NDP voters continue to flock to Trudeau. | |
| The Liberals are now leading or elected in 10 seats in Montreal, capturing more than half the popular vote, with the Conservatives and New Democrats trailing badly. A terrible night for the New Democrats could climax with leader Tom Mulcair losing his own seat Outremont, where he now trails his Liberal opponent by a substantial number of votes. | |
| It might be too early to predict Mulcair’s defeat in the Montreal riding of Outremont, though early results showed him with fewer than a quarter of votes cast so far. | |
| The official tally so far: | |
| 10.01pm ET03:01 | |
| The official projections continue to show Liberals in the lead, although many races in the dense Toronto area are far from being tallied in full. Polls have just closed in British Columbia, meaning the deluge of exit polls and counted ballots will only increase in the next hour. | |
| Some happy Liberals #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/KWeSo0HJck | |
| 9.53pm ET02:53 | |
| The official results page now projects an increasingly commanding lead for the Liberals, apparently at the expense of the NDP, and the Conservatives gaining with a not insignificant share of what progressives did not claim. | |
| Although the networks have called victory for Trudeau and the Liberals, it’s not clear whether the latter have enough clout to actually pull off a majority government. | |
| A flavor of the, um, atmosphere at the Harper party in Calgary #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/hGRUvdB3NB | |
| 9.48pm ET02:48 | |
| At Stephen Harper’s headquarters in Alberta, the Conservatives’ election night party has gotten to a modest if not downright glum start, my colleague Nicky Woolf reports. | |
| Doors have just opened at the Telus Center, a convention hall in downtown Alberta, for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives’ election night party. The room – which has a capacity of 1,000 but is set up to seat far fewer than that – is a notably modest one by the standard of these affairs. An organiser tells me that 1600 people have confirmed as attending, but says he has “no idea” how many will turn up. | |
| Conservative supporters try to remain upbeat in the face of what looks like the coming storm, however. Three generations of Bray family voters are among the first partygoers in; Albert and Julia Bray, their daughter Susan and her husband Wally Welch, and their granddaughter Lindsay. | |
| Lindsey is 19, and has just voted for the first time - she says she voted Conservative because, largely, of Harper’s stance on Israel. “I’m a big supporter of Israel and Harper took a big stand,” she says. “I’m proud of that.” | |
| Julia says she’s surprised at the results coming out of Atlantic Canada. “The night’s not over yet,” Albert says. I ask if which way they think the results tonight will go, and Wally holds his hand out palm-flat, shaking it side-to-side. His wife, however, remains hopeful. | |
| “I’m thinking positively that it’s going to turn out well for the Conservatives,” she says. I look at Wally. “I feel the same way as my wife,” he says. | |
| 9.45pm ET02:45 | |
| Networks call for Liberals | |
| Canada’s major news networks, CTV and CBC, have called the election for the Liberals and Justin Trudeau, with the official results pouring in but nowhere near finished. As of now: | |
| CBC just called the election for Justin Trudeau, says we're just looking to find out whether he'll have maj or min govt. #elxn42 | |
| Atmosphere pretty glum in Harper HQ as CBC calls it for Trudeau #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/PkNILlivQZ | |
| 9.34pm ET02:34 | |
| Any minute now we should start getting results from the vast bulk of the Canadian electorate: greater Toronto, Quebec, all of Ontario and the eastern, central and mountain time zones. | |
| Conservatives and Liberals fought hard for the dense suburbs around Toronto, and the NDP and Liberals in Quebec, where the Bloc Quebecois also played a role in shaping the race. These cities and provinces will prove the keys to forming a minority government for any party, and no party could manage a majority without significant victories here. | |
| 9.24pm ET02:24 | |
| “This federal election is very different from the last campaign in 2011 in any number of ways,” writes Jessica Murphy from Montreal, finding parallels where she can with the Harper victory. | |
| In 2011, the Liberal and NDP election headquarters were both in downtown Toronto, within walking distance of each other, where the each party’s former leaders, Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton, respectively, had their seats. | |
| This year, both the Liberals and the New Democrats are once again in the same city - Montreal this time – and with HQs within walking distance of each other. Both leaders have their ridings in downtown Montreal – New Democrat Tom Mulcair’s is Outremont, which is directly adjacent to Papineau, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s riding. | |
| Soon she’ll head off to the Liberal headquarters nearby, which, if the tweets are to be believed, is gradually taking on the atmosphere of a discotheque at an airport hotel. T-minus five minutes to polls from Ontario… | |
| Liberal HQ in Montreal now filling up Papineau workers arriving also Libs from urban Montreal #cbc #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/9ffxS0PBdT | |
| 9.21pm ET02:21 | |
| Former Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, imprisoned for more than 400 days in Egypt, has made a triumphant return to the polls. | |
| Euphoric! I could get used to freedom and democracy...... #elexn42 #Canada pic.twitter.com/KydcnXzaLX | |
| 9.11pm ET02:11 | |
| It’s nearly too late for Liberal leader Justin Trudeau to convince any Canadians to cast their vote left, but noted Canadian actor and frenemy of the Guardian William Shatner has advice for the politician nonetheless. | |
| With everyone asking again; I cannot vote. I have been a man without a country for several decades. | |
| If you have the right to vote; you should exercise it and have a say in who gets elected. #getoutandvote | |
| 9.05pm ET02:05 | |
| Liberals carry Atlantic Canada | |
| Update from Canada’s official results page: Liberals are leading in all 33 reporting ridings so far, with 60.5% of the vote. | |
| Conservatives have 17.8% and NDP has 17.3%, and the Blue Jays have more runs after two innings than either party has seats in Atlantic Canada. | |
| “First-past-the-post is a momentum play,” former Liberal leader Bob Rae told John Barber for the Guardian, just prior to the current campaign. And momentum so far strongly suggests Canada is heading toward a Liberal majority government. | |
| Overheard conversation among Liberals: "This doesn't feel real so far." | |
| Polls close in Ontario at 9.30pm ET, as well as in the whole of Eastern, Central and Mountain time zones, meaning the election’s dynamic could change dramatically when the city ridings start reporting votes. | |
| Updated at 9.23pm ET | |
| 8.57pm ET01:57 | |
| Baseball break: the Toronto Blue Jays – a team with three Canadian ballplayers – are winning 3-1, top of the third, over the Kansas City Royals. | |
| ON THE BOARD! @rgoins5 is pumped up! @KPILLAR4 is safe crossing home for second run! #BlueJays #HereWeGo https://t.co/Rth89TluKn | |
| No word on whether those players voted, though, or if they did for whom, but the team’s got a “come together” motto… so they must be supporting some kind of minority government? Or maybe just sports. | |
| 8.45pm ET01:45 | |
| One party’s gain is another party’s menacing red wave of doom. | |
| Just brutal, wrenching results so far for the NDP. Could lose Megan Leslie, Peter Stoffer, Ryan Cleary and Jack Harris. Significant losses. | |
| But, yeah, it indicates a pretty huge tide towards the Liberals — not just away from the NDP, but from the Conservatives as well. | |
| Atlantic red tide notwithstanding, though, pollsters have yet to register a huge number of votes from Canada’s major cities – regions like Quebec and greater Toronto, where the three parties have fought hardest over densely populated ridings. | |
| Notwithstanding that notwithstanding caveat, conservatives are not pleased. Former justice minister Peter MacKay told CTV News: “These are not the results we were hoping for in Atlantic Canada.” | |
| Updated at 9.21pm ET | |
| 8.30pm ET01:30 | |
| “Tonight’s election could point directly to a minority government – likely Liberal, possibly Conservative,” writes Jessica Murphy from Montreal, even as some bold pundits hazard a Liberal majority, apparently emboldened by the party’s lead (for now) in 32 ridings of Atlantic Canada. | |
| Both NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said during the campaign they would not work with a re-elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In Mulcair’s words “there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell.” | |
| Her take as we wait for polls from outside Atlantic Canada. | |
| If the Liberals win a minority… | |
| “Trudeau has ruled out a formal coalition,” Bruce Ryder, with York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, told the Guardian. | |
| “It does suggest the most likely scenario is Trudeau is likely to govern the way Harper did in the first minority, 2007-2008, where he sought to get support for various initiatives and votes from the opposition parties on a case-by-case basis.” | |
| If Conservatives manage a minority… | |
| Things could get more interesting – and more complicated. Ryder laid out some possible scenarios: | |
| “I would imagine (Harper) doing something like putting together a Speech from the Throne that acknowledges that they didn’t receive an overwhelming mandate and recognizes some key elements of the platform the Liberals and the NDP that are incorporated into the Throne speech. In other words, I would imagine they would have a Throne speech that’s not over partisan to make it difficult for the NDP and the Liberals to vote him down right away.” | |
| (A speech from the Throne lays out a government’s broad legislative agenda and goals under Canada’s political system.) | |
| If the Liberals and NDP follow through on their threat to not support Harper and he loses the confidence of the House, then Ryder said Harper has a couple of options. | |
| Either way, Canada’s longest election in modern history might keep generating headlines long after the ballots are counted. | |
| 8.17pm ET01:17 | |
| The clock is ticking down on polls in western Canada, and for pollsters to tally up what votes they have, meaning the candidates have a few more hours to mull the major issues of the election: discontent and immigration. | |
| Nicky Woolf and Jessica Murphy have tackled the first, asking whether enough sentiment has built up against Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper to oust him from office in favor of a progressive government – of some unknown composition. | |
| Related: Canada election: will anti-Harper sentiment be enough to bring progressives to power? | |
| And John Barber writes on the continuing debate over immigration – and the surprising debate over veils and citizenship – that dominated the latter portions of the campaign, especially in the Toronto suburbs. | |
| Related: Canadian election: vote hinges on immigrants at center of rights debate | |
| 8.06pm ET01:06 | |
| “A Liberal landslide is taking shape in Atlantic Canada,” writes John Barber for the Guardian in Toronto, although the region is historically left-leaning and the vast bulk of votes from Canada’s urban centers have yet to be counted. | |
| The party has captured more than 85% of the votes counted so far and elected or leading in all 18 districts that have reported. Gains expected here, but this is something else again. | |
| The Conservatives have captured less than 5% of the vote in Atlantic Canada and appear to have lost all eight seats they held here before dissolution – what would be a stunning setback. | |
| Will the Liberal lead survive in NDP heartland? Stay tuned! | |
| Per the official results page: Liberals are leading in 26 electoral districts, Conservatives in two, the NDP in one. (A party needs 170 for a majority.) | |
| The Toronto Star’s Alex Boutilier says Liberals should be feeling good about Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. | |
| I mean a *good* showing was expected, especially in NL and NS. But we're practically in sweep territory. | |
| Updated at 8.07pm ET | |
| 7.56pm ET00:56 | |
| Ridings to watch | |
| Which ridings could change the race? Jessica Murphy has the key battles that have been fiercer – and could be more consequential – than most of the 332 others. | |
| Greater Toronto | |
| “The definition of vote-rich,” she writes. “Ontario has 35% of Canada’s seats and many of them are in and around the country’s largest city. “ | |
| Ajax: The incumbent here is Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. His main challenger is Liberal Mark Holland, a former MP who has been gunning hard to win back his seat. The Syrian refugee crisis – and the perception the Conservatives fumbled their handling of the issue during the campaign - may have given Holland the ammunition he needed. | |
| Eglinton-Lawrence: Another Conservative cabinet minister - Finance Minister Joe Oliver - is facing stiff competition from Liberal candidate Marco Mendicino. Mendicino fought hard just to win the nomination in this riding after Conservative-turned-Liberal MP Eve Adams made a play to carry the Liberal banner here. Oliver was largely absent from the public eye during the campaign – even as Canada dipped briefly into recession – as he focused on keeping his seat. | |
| Quebec | |
| “Quebec was supposed to stay NDP orange this election. Still, as the party fell in the polls, many ridings became three, even four way races between the Liberals, the Conservatives, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois.” | |
| Laurier Sainte Marie: The incumbent in this downtown Montreal riding is New Democrat MP Helene Laverdiere, who stole this from Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe in 2011. Duceppe quit politics but came back to lead the faltering Bloc shortly before this campaign began. Bets are lining up behind Laverdiere managing to hold on and defeat the Bloc leader twice in a row. | |
| Mount Royal: This Montreal riding was a safe Liberal seat for years under popular - and widely respected across the aisles - MP Irwin Cotler. Cotler has resigned and the Conservatives, who have had their eye on this seat for ages, are running star candidate Robert Libman, a well-known provincial and municipal politician. Conservative leader Stephen Harper even launched his campaign in this riding back in August. The Liberals are running Anthony Housefather, another popular local politician, and it looks like this riding will stay red. | |
| Outremont: New Democrat leader Tom Mulcair won this riding in 2008, establishing a beachhead for the party in Quebec which culminated in the “Orange Wave” that swept the province in 2011. Now, this safe seat is under threat as the party’s fortunes took a tumble in polls and with the Liberals looking like they’ll make gains on the island of Montreal. Mulcair’s Liberal challenger is lawyer Rachel Bendayan. | |
| British Columbia | |
| “Canada’s westernmost province is three hours behind the most populated provinces of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) where elections are often decided. But in this election the province is considered a battleground.” | |
| North Vancouver: The incumbent Conservative is Andrew Saxton.. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau held a massive rally in this riding as he capped off his campaign, and it’s predicted to turn to the Liberals. | |
| Updated at 8.22pm ET | |
| 7.26pm ET00:26 | |
| As the first polls close, the very first counts are coming in, from Newfoundland, and Liberal Yvonne Jones leading in Labrador … with 81 polls pending there. | |
| On CBC a pundit says “we gotta be careful” because “Newfoundland doesn’t necessarily set the trend.” The polite disagreement rages on. | |
| And so the long night of counting begins still without anything from either of Canada’s leading pop stars, though Drake may be getting ready for the Jays game. | |
| 7.16pm ET00:16 | |
| Green leader Elizabeth May isn’t overly concerned about her own party’s prospects in the election as she finishes up campaigning on the trail, per the Globe and Mail’s Justine Hunter. | |
| Elizabeth May's prediction: "I think Stephen Harper is going to be leaving 24 Sussex Dr, which matters more than whatever else happens." 2/2 | |
| A little wave, a little selfie, a lot of love. Take it away #yyj! #GoVote #CanadaVotes #elxn42 #fed2015 pic.twitter.com/11A46uubJU | |
| 7.02pm ET00:02 | |
| Following Stephen Harper’s rise and support of acts like an end to absentee ballots has prompted progressive activists to plan “strategic” action, says John Barber, writing for the Guardian from Toronto. | |
| This was an election in which activists forcefully urged progressive Canadians to vote “strategically” to prevent Conservative candidates from winning seats in districts where competing progressives threatened to divide the anti-Conservative vote. | |
| The advice was to back whichever local candidate looked most likely to defeat their Conservative rival, even if that meant Liberals voting for the NDP and NDPers voting Liberal. Groups such as leadnow.ca devoted considerable resources to the job of identifying districts where strategic voting might work and advising electors how to do it. | |
| A hard sell in any event, strategic voting became moot as the campaign closed, with polls showing progressive voters flocking en masse into the Liberal camp and Justin Trudeau emerging as the main challenger to the unpopular incumbent. | |
| Virtually all of Trudeau’s newfound support appears to have come from voters abandoning Tom Mulcair’s once-leading NDP – a traditional source of support for Liberal candidates when the crunch comes. | |
| Updated at 7.02pm ET | |
| 6.45pm ET23:45 | |
| Don’t feel that the Conservatives, Liberals or NDP quite match your politics? Fear not, Canada likely has the political party for you. | |
| Nearly two dozen political parties have put forth contenders in ridings across Canada, including the Radical Marijuana party (tubular drug policy), the Pirate party (swashbuckling for intellectual property reform) , the Marxist-Leninists (workers of the world, etc), the Alliance of the North (and xenophobia) and the Animal Alliance (campaigning for bear and suffrage since 2005) | |
| And then there’s the Rhinoceros Party, whose leaders promise to move Canada’s capital to Kapuskasing, Ontario, to nationalize Tim Hortons, and to give Canadians “a monthly orgasm”. Groups under the Rhinocerous banner have run satirical campaigns since the 1960s, and they have 27 candidates running this season. | |
| From the Globe and Mail: | |
| It won’t happen, of course. Even Mr. Lukawski, a 22-year-old computer software developer, admits his party won’t win a seat. If he comes in higher than dead last in Ottawa Centre it will be a victory. | |
| It doesn’t really matter, of course, as the most important Rhino election promise of all is that they will never keep their promises. | |
| What does matter is that this election, the longest in Canadian history since 1874, is also the most humourless election since Confederation. | |
| “It’s tragic, really,” says the candidate. “I’m not sure elections are supposed to be fun – but there should be a few laughs.” | |
| So while the race has been billed as a battle between three parties – the reigning Conservatives, who would keep Stephen Harper on the maple-leaf throne, the New Democratic Party, a progressive set led by longtime MP Thomas Mulcair, and the Liberals, the resurgent center-left party led by Justin Trudeau – you can really take your pick. | |
| 6.11pm ET23:11 | |
| An unlikely sight south of the border. Down here you’re lucky if you get a sticker. | |
| How about a thank you for casting a ballot? Pretty awesome! #elxn42 #CBCTO @csiTO 🇨🇦🍁 pic.twitter.com/zH5f3lZfCM | |
| Updated at 6.11pm ET | |
| 6.00pm ET23:00 | |
| As Canadians know, the polls will begin to close on the east coast in just over an hour while on the west coast, polls will remain open for several more hours. | |
| Respectively, in the Eastern time zone, polls close at 9.30pm; in Newfoundland, Atlantic and Central at 8.30pm; in Mountain and Saskatchewan 7.30pm; and in Pacific, 7pm. | |
| So with that final update, I’m handing the liveblog over to my colleague Alan Yuhas, who will finish out the last leg of this marathon election cycle. He’s well caffeinated and will likely make far fewer references to Bieber than I have. | |
| We hope you stay tuned throughout the night for more coverage of what has been billed as one of the closest elections in history. | |
| 5.54pm ET22:54 | |
| Update: still nothing from the Biebs. | |
| 5.34pm ET22:34 | |
| A sneak peek at the Conservative and Liberal party headquarters. | |
| Here at Conservative HQ in #yyc. Follow @althiaraj for updates from Liberal HQ & @CathLvesque at NDP HQ. #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/SUmVPYYq0m | Here at Conservative HQ in #yyc. Follow @althiaraj for updates from Liberal HQ & @CathLvesque at NDP HQ. #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/SUmVPYYq0m |
| The view from Liberal party HQ tonight. Follow colleagues @CathLvesque at NDP NQ and @sarahcrgr at Conservative HQ. pic.twitter.com/XFliVAwHob | The view from Liberal party HQ tonight. Follow colleagues @CathLvesque at NDP NQ and @sarahcrgr at Conservative HQ. pic.twitter.com/XFliVAwHob |
| Updated at 6.23pm ET | |
| 5.12pm ET22:12 | |
| Ruth Spencer | Ruth Spencer |
| The Guardian’s deputy features editor and Canadian expat Ruth Spencer is among the 1.4 million Canadians who were stripped of their right to vote. | The Guardian’s deputy features editor and Canadian expat Ruth Spencer is among the 1.4 million Canadians who were stripped of their right to vote. |
| I lost my right to participate in Canada’s democratic system last summer, when the Appeals Court of Ontario sided with the Harper government and ruled that Canadians who have lived outside the country for more than five years should be banned from voting. Their reasoning was that permitting all non-resident citizens to vote would allow us “to participate in making laws that affect Canadian residents on a daily basis, but have little to no practical consequence for their own daily lives”. | I lost my right to participate in Canada’s democratic system last summer, when the Appeals Court of Ontario sided with the Harper government and ruled that Canadians who have lived outside the country for more than five years should be banned from voting. Their reasoning was that permitting all non-resident citizens to vote would allow us “to participate in making laws that affect Canadian residents on a daily basis, but have little to no practical consequence for their own daily lives”. |
| To say that what happens in Canada does not affect the “daily lives” of someone like me is, to be blunt, a load of bull – and a superficial, naive understanding of the life of an expat. | To say that what happens in Canada does not affect the “daily lives” of someone like me is, to be blunt, a load of bull – and a superficial, naive understanding of the life of an expat. |
| Read Ruth’s piece in full here. | Read Ruth’s piece in full here. |
| Updated at 5.21pm ET | |
| 4.58pm ET21:58 | |
| Nicky Woolf | Nicky Woolf |
| It’s a time-worn cliché: an intrepid young journalist in hot pursuit of a breaking news story lands in a new city only to be set straight by his fast-talking, city-wise cab driver. | It’s a time-worn cliché: an intrepid young journalist in hot pursuit of a breaking news story lands in a new city only to be set straight by his fast-talking, city-wise cab driver. |
| Well, that’s basically what happened to our reporter Nicky Woolf when he arrived in Calgary on Monday afternoon. | Well, that’s basically what happened to our reporter Nicky Woolf when he arrived in Calgary on Monday afternoon. |
| By luck, the cab taking me from Calgary airport to the convention centre where prime minister Stephen Harper will be hosting an election night party was driven by 58-year-old Mizanur Rahman, a former candidate in the Calgary provincial election back in May. | By luck, the cab taking me from Calgary airport to the convention centre where prime minister Stephen Harper will be hosting an election night party was driven by 58-year-old Mizanur Rahman, a former candidate in the Calgary provincial election back in May. |
| Six months ago, Rahman, who moved to Canada nearly three decades ago from Bangladesh, was an NDP candidate for Calgary West. But since then, he told me, his support has swung over to Harper’s Conservatives. | Six months ago, Rahman, who moved to Canada nearly three decades ago from Bangladesh, was an NDP candidate for Calgary West. But since then, he told me, his support has swung over to Harper’s Conservatives. |
| “We will be better off under Conservatives,” Rahman said. “In order to be better off, [we need] to have a balanced budget.” | “We will be better off under Conservatives,” Rahman said. “In order to be better off, [we need] to have a balanced budget.” |
| He said that another issue which had brought him to the Conservative fold was marijuana - which both the Liberals and the NDP have said they want to decriminalise or legalise. “I think Mr. Harper is right,” he said. “He has a very long political view. | He said that another issue which had brought him to the Conservative fold was marijuana - which both the Liberals and the NDP have said they want to decriminalise or legalise. “I think Mr. Harper is right,” he said. “He has a very long political view. |
| [Marijuana] is actually very harmful for the younger generation.” | [Marijuana] is actually very harmful for the younger generation.” |
| But most important to him, he said, was jobs. “The NDP is not a balanced approach for making money. They approach corporations as the enemy, but they are part of our society. Jobs are important.” He said if the NDP were in power there would be a “human disaster.” | But most important to him, he said, was jobs. “The NDP is not a balanced approach for making money. They approach corporations as the enemy, but they are part of our society. Jobs are important.” He said if the NDP were in power there would be a “human disaster.” |
| Asked whether the Conservatives’ hard-line approach to immigrants bothered him at all, Rahman said it did not. “We need to have security in our country,” he said. | Asked whether the Conservatives’ hard-line approach to immigrants bothered him at all, Rahman said it did not. “We need to have security in our country,” he said. |
| Rahman has already voted – he voted early – and he voted for the Conservatives. | Rahman has already voted – he voted early – and he voted for the Conservatives. |
| Updated at 5.37pm ET | |
| 4.33pm ET21:33 | |
| As we mentioned, Canada’s most famous native son, Justin Bieber, has been quiet about the election. Perhaps he forgot. Or maybe he just isn’t interested in sharing his political views with his 68.5 million Twitter fans. And with twice as many followers as Canada has citizens, perhaps that’s for the best. | As we mentioned, Canada’s most famous native son, Justin Bieber, has been quiet about the election. Perhaps he forgot. Or maybe he just isn’t interested in sharing his political views with his 68.5 million Twitter fans. And with twice as many followers as Canada has citizens, perhaps that’s for the best. |
| Here’s what other famous Canadians are saying about the election. | Here’s what other famous Canadians are saying about the election. |
| Just voted for fresh, new leadership for my country-where I was born, raised & have always lived . #elxn42 #elxn2015 #1stgenkid #Canada | Just voted for fresh, new leadership for my country-where I was born, raised & have always lived . #elxn42 #elxn2015 #1stgenkid #Canada |
| Polls are open! The #VoteTogether campaign has a plan to defeat the Harper Conservatives, riding by riding. http://t.co/aeUvHf4SvA #elxn42 | Polls are open! The #VoteTogether campaign has a plan to defeat the Harper Conservatives, riding by riding. http://t.co/aeUvHf4SvA #elxn42 |
| Canadian-American actress Pamela Anderson has said she wouldn’t vote for Conservative Leader Stephen Harper. Anderson cannot vote because she has lived outside of Canada for more than five years. | Canadian-American actress Pamela Anderson has said she wouldn’t vote for Conservative Leader Stephen Harper. Anderson cannot vote because she has lived outside of Canada for more than five years. |
| Famous Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky cannot vote either, but nonetheless endorsed Harper. | Famous Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky cannot vote either, but nonetheless endorsed Harper. |
| On HBO’s Last Week Tonight, Mike Myers joined John Oliver in encouraging Canadians not to vote for Harper. | On HBO’s Last Week Tonight, Mike Myers joined John Oliver in encouraging Canadians not to vote for Harper. |
| Esteemed Canadian actor Donald Sutherland has urged Canadian who can vote to “kick out” Harper. He’d take New Democratic Party leader Tom Mulcair or “Trudeau’s son” liberal leader Justin Trudeau – anyone but Harper, really. Sutherland has joined forces with other Canadian expatriates stripped of their right to vote to call for changes to the residency limits set by Canada’s voting law. | Esteemed Canadian actor Donald Sutherland has urged Canadian who can vote to “kick out” Harper. He’d take New Democratic Party leader Tom Mulcair or “Trudeau’s son” liberal leader Justin Trudeau – anyone but Harper, really. Sutherland has joined forces with other Canadian expatriates stripped of their right to vote to call for changes to the residency limits set by Canada’s voting law. |
| As for the others – Drake, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Ryan Gosling? Crickets. | As for the others – Drake, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Ryan Gosling? Crickets. |
| Updated at 4.53pm ET | |
| 4.10pm ET21:10 | |
| Summary | Summary |
| It’s so far been a relatively quiet day of voting in Canada with the real drama expected after the sun sets. With several hours yet until polls close, the race is still very much a close call. | It’s so far been a relatively quiet day of voting in Canada with the real drama expected after the sun sets. With several hours yet until polls close, the race is still very much a close call. |
| Updated at 4.13pm ET | |
| 3.46pm ET20:46 | |
| Mali Ilse Paquin files this dispatch from Montreal | Mali Ilse Paquin files this dispatch from Montreal |
| To protest election rules that allow Muslim women to wear a veil while voting, some Canadians have gone to polling booths wearing scarves, halloween masks and balaclava helmets. | To protest election rules that allow Muslim women to wear a veil while voting, some Canadians have gone to polling booths wearing scarves, halloween masks and balaclava helmets. |
| More than 10,000 Facebook users have joined a group called “On October 19, I will vote veiled” which was founded by a Quebec woman called Martine Leclerc. | More than 10,000 Facebook users have joined a group called “On October 19, I will vote veiled” which was founded by a Quebec woman called Martine Leclerc. |
| She said she was prompted to start the page by a row over the federal court ruling that cleared the way for Zunera Ishaq to wear her niqab while taking the Canadian citizenship oath. | She said she was prompted to start the page by a row over the federal court ruling that cleared the way for Zunera Ishaq to wear her niqab while taking the Canadian citizenship oath. |
| One poll in March showed that 82% of Canadians agreed with the government on the attempted niqab ban. But the proportion reached 93% in the Francophone province of Quebec where tensions over religious minorities’ rights have run high in the last decade. | One poll in March showed that 82% of Canadians agreed with the government on the attempted niqab ban. But the proportion reached 93% in the Francophone province of Quebec where tensions over religious minorities’ rights have run high in the last decade. |
| Leclerc, who lives in Montreal, said she first considered voting with her face covered in protest of Zunera Ishaq’s legal victory. | Leclerc, who lives in Montreal, said she first considered voting with her face covered in protest of Zunera Ishaq’s legal victory. |
| “It didn’t make sense to me for voters to be able to hide their face on religious grounds”, she told the Guardian. “Our democratic right to vote should be executed under secular rules.” | “It didn’t make sense to me for voters to be able to hide their face on religious grounds”, she told the Guardian. “Our democratic right to vote should be executed under secular rules.” |
| Under current guidelines, in place since 2007, voters do not have to uncover their faces if they show two valid identity cards and take an oath that they are eligible. | Under current guidelines, in place since 2007, voters do not have to uncover their faces if they show two valid identity cards and take an oath that they are eligible. |
| Women and men alike, most of them from Quebec, have followed Leclerc’s initiative, casting their votes in Halloween costumes, wrestling masks or scarves. One of the first women to do so was shown masked with a potato sack in a Quebec City polling station. | Women and men alike, most of them from Quebec, have followed Leclerc’s initiative, casting their votes in Halloween costumes, wrestling masks or scarves. One of the first women to do so was shown masked with a potato sack in a Quebec City polling station. |
| Montreal-born Marie-Élaine Boucher, who was wearing a skull-patterned scarf, claimed to have received high-fives from other voters after casting her ballot. | Montreal-born Marie-Élaine Boucher, who was wearing a skull-patterned scarf, claimed to have received high-fives from other voters after casting her ballot. |
| “I think religious signs have no place in the public sphere”, said the schoolteacher. “I view the niqab as a symbol of non-integration to our society.” | “I think religious signs have no place in the public sphere”, said the schoolteacher. “I view the niqab as a symbol of non-integration to our society.” |
| Leclerc said her group was not intended to be anti-Muslim, but many comments on the page included defamatory remarks about Ishaq. | Leclerc said her group was not intended to be anti-Muslim, but many comments on the page included defamatory remarks about Ishaq. |
| “I try to remind people that we are not targeting Zunera Ishaq or Muslims in general,” said Leclerc. “The problem is our laws that do not reflect our secular values.” | “I try to remind people that we are not targeting Zunera Ishaq or Muslims in general,” said Leclerc. “The problem is our laws that do not reflect our secular values.” |
| Updated at 4.43pm ET | |
| 3.22pm ET20:22 | |
| Political columnist resigns as editor after disagreement with newspaper execs over election column | Political columnist resigns as editor after disagreement with newspaper execs over election column |
| Jessica Murphy | Jessica Murphy |
| Andrew Coyne, one of Canada’s most prominent conservative journalists, resigned as head of the National Post editorial board today, citing a “professional disagreement” with newspaper executives - though he remains as a columnist. | Andrew Coyne, one of Canada’s most prominent conservative journalists, resigned as head of the National Post editorial board today, citing a “professional disagreement” with newspaper executives - though he remains as a columnist. |
| The Post - founded by Conrad Black in 1998 - is the flagship paper of the Postmedia chain. | The Post - founded by Conrad Black in 1998 - is the flagship paper of the Postmedia chain. |
| In a series of 15 tweets, Coyne laid out the disagreement he had with Postmedia executives over a column he wrote dissenting from his paper’s endorsement of the Conservatives – and whether the column “confused readers and embarrassed the paper”. | In a series of 15 tweets, Coyne laid out the disagreement he had with Postmedia executives over a column he wrote dissenting from his paper’s endorsement of the Conservatives – and whether the column “confused readers and embarrassed the paper”. |
| Coyne said that while he respected the right of the owners and managers to set the editorial line, his “concerns were and are merely a) that there should be no suggestion that I was personally endorsing or voting for the Conservatives” and “ that I could not do my job as a columnist if I was obliged to stay silent where these conflicted with those of management.” | Coyne said that while he respected the right of the owners and managers to set the editorial line, his “concerns were and are merely a) that there should be no suggestion that I was personally endorsing or voting for the Conservatives” and “ that I could not do my job as a columnist if I was obliged to stay silent where these conflicted with those of management.” |
| He noted he would be voting for the New Democrat candidate in his riding and then finished with this mic drop: | He noted he would be voting for the New Democrat candidate in his riding and then finished with this mic drop: |
| Finally, my prediction: Airheads 143 Fascists 116 Commies 71 Traitors 5 Ewoks 2 Unabombers 1 (#rathagainstthemachine - oh let me dream…). | Finally, my prediction: Airheads 143 Fascists 116 Commies 71 Traitors 5 Ewoks 2 Unabombers 1 (#rathagainstthemachine - oh let me dream…). |
| On Twitter, Green Party leader Elizabeth May praised Coyne for taking a stand against “increasingly controlled corporate media.” Postmedia is the largest publisher by circulation of English-language daily papers in Canada. It owns the Post along with 17 other major papers across the country and many more regional holdings. In some cities like Ottawa, Canada’s capital, it owns more than one major daily, the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun. Here’s an example of the Postmedia endorsement that appeared in the Calgary Sun on 9 October, variations of which ran in many of their holdings: | On Twitter, Green Party leader Elizabeth May praised Coyne for taking a stand against “increasingly controlled corporate media.” Postmedia is the largest publisher by circulation of English-language daily papers in Canada. It owns the Post along with 17 other major papers across the country and many more regional holdings. In some cities like Ottawa, Canada’s capital, it owns more than one major daily, the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun. Here’s an example of the Postmedia endorsement that appeared in the Calgary Sun on 9 October, variations of which ran in many of their holdings: |
| “If, as some polls suggest, this election is coming down to voters making an economic choice between Stephen Harper’s Conservatives and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, then the choice is clear. | “If, as some polls suggest, this election is coming down to voters making an economic choice between Stephen Harper’s Conservatives and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, then the choice is clear. |
| “Harper’s plan is balanced budgets with small surpluses for the next four years. Trudeau is to plunge us back into three years of deficits.” | “Harper’s plan is balanced budgets with small surpluses for the next four years. Trudeau is to plunge us back into three years of deficits.” |
| The chain endorsement, along with the full front page Conservative Party ads that ran in their papers Friday, has raised questions about media ownership in Canada. | The chain endorsement, along with the full front page Conservative Party ads that ran in their papers Friday, has raised questions about media ownership in Canada. |
| Updated at 3.36pm ET | |
| 2.37pm ET19:37 | |
| CBC has the poll closing times by region. | CBC has the poll closing times by region. |
| Know when your local polls close! @CBCNews has this handy map & more: https://t.co/bJ9Kot4KQJ #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/rOYFXLj4nB | Know when your local polls close! @CBCNews has this handy map & more: https://t.co/bJ9Kot4KQJ #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/rOYFXLj4nB |
| Updated at 2.38pm ET | |
| 2.26pm ET19:26 | |
| John Barber | John Barber |
| Karma gets complicated when a federal election collides with a crucial playoff game for the Toronto Blue Jays. | Karma gets complicated when a federal election collides with a crucial playoff game for the Toronto Blue Jays. |
| The baseball team recently fell two games behind the Kansas City Royals in the American League championship series and will be fighting for their lives in a must-watch game as Canadians line up to vote this evening. | The baseball team recently fell two games behind the Kansas City Royals in the American League championship series and will be fighting for their lives in a must-watch game as Canadians line up to vote this evening. |
| Millions of win-starved Canadian baseball fans are already annoyed with politics, having not failed to notice that their only major-league baseball team has lost every time one of the three federal leaders attended a game this fall in search of feel-good screen time. A repeat hex tonight would see the Jays falling three games behind the Royals in the best-of-seven series, effectively ending their hopes of contending for their first World Series title since 1993. | Millions of win-starved Canadian baseball fans are already annoyed with politics, having not failed to notice that their only major-league baseball team has lost every time one of the three federal leaders attended a game this fall in search of feel-good screen time. A repeat hex tonight would see the Jays falling three games behind the Royals in the best-of-seven series, effectively ending their hopes of contending for their first World Series title since 1993. |
| Others are more confident, noting that the current election is the first to be held in October since that same year, 1993, when attention was likewise divided and the Jays went on to win it all. | Others are more confident, noting that the current election is the first to be held in October since that same year, 1993, when attention was likewise divided and the Jays went on to win it all. |
| For their part, the Blue Jays really want Canadians to vote before tuning in to watch the game. | For their part, the Blue Jays really want Canadians to vote before tuning in to watch the game. |
| Hey, Canada: @MStrooo6 wants you to remember to vote today (and then you can watch the @BlueJays). http://t.co/Ys0C1pnZpL | Hey, Canada: @MStrooo6 wants you to remember to vote today (and then you can watch the @BlueJays). http://t.co/Ys0C1pnZpL |
| 2.16pm ET19:16 | |
| Looking for a lunchtime read? Let me recommend Stephen Harper: master manipulator by journalist Nick Davies. | Looking for a lunchtime read? Let me recommend Stephen Harper: master manipulator by journalist Nick Davies. |
| The article revisits the scandals that have dogged Harper over the course of 11 years in power and three federal elections. | The article revisits the scandals that have dogged Harper over the course of 11 years in power and three federal elections. |
| In Canada, some of the prime minister’s men and women have been accused not simply of cheating to win elections but of conspiring to jam the machinery of democratic government. | In Canada, some of the prime minister’s men and women have been accused not simply of cheating to win elections but of conspiring to jam the machinery of democratic government. |
| Some of these allegations have been proved. In the 11 years since he became leader of the country’s Conservatives, the party has been fined for breaking electoral rules, and various members of Team Harper have been caught misleading parliament, gagging civil servants, subverting parliamentary committees, gagging scientists, harassing the supreme court, gagging diplomats, lying to the public, concealing evidence of potential crime, spying on opponents, bullying and smearing. Harper personally has earned himself the rare rebuke of being found to be in contempt of his parliament. | Some of these allegations have been proved. In the 11 years since he became leader of the country’s Conservatives, the party has been fined for breaking electoral rules, and various members of Team Harper have been caught misleading parliament, gagging civil servants, subverting parliamentary committees, gagging scientists, harassing the supreme court, gagging diplomats, lying to the public, concealing evidence of potential crime, spying on opponents, bullying and smearing. Harper personally has earned himself the rare rebuke of being found to be in contempt of his parliament. |
| Updated at 3.16pm ET | |
| 2.08pm ET19:08 | |
| After casting his ballot, Stephen Harper told reporters: “It’s a nice blue sky. That’s how I’m feeling.” | After casting his ballot, Stephen Harper told reporters: “It’s a nice blue sky. That’s how I’m feeling.” |
| But it’s not all blue skies and rainbows for the prime minister looking to clinch a fourth election on Monday, say the polls. | But it’s not all blue skies and rainbows for the prime minister looking to clinch a fourth election on Monday, say the polls. |
| Harper is struggling to hold on to power in the face of a challenge by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party. Read more here. | Harper is struggling to hold on to power in the face of a challenge by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party. Read more here. |
| Updated at 3.17pm ET | |
| 2.00pm ET19:00 | |
| Fancy that photograph of liberal leader Justin Trudeau making a cheerleader pyramid with his campaign staff after arriving Montreal to vote on Monday? Here’s the video. | Fancy that photograph of liberal leader Justin Trudeau making a cheerleader pyramid with his campaign staff after arriving Montreal to vote on Monday? Here’s the video. |
| 1.47pm ET18:47 | |
| Update: John Oliver will not go to jail or be fined C$5,000 for telling Canadians not to elect Stephen Harper. | Update: John Oliver will not go to jail or be fined C$5,000 for telling Canadians not to elect Stephen Harper. |
| According to the Canadian Press, the Canadian elections authorities said on Monday that the law Oliver dared to defy does not actually bar foreigners from expressing an opinion. | According to the Canadian Press, the Canadian elections authorities said on Monday that the law Oliver dared to defy does not actually bar foreigners from expressing an opinion. |
| The expression of personal political views by Canadians or non-Canadians as to which parties or candidates they support is not an offence under the Act,” said Elections Canada spokesman John Enright. “This also applies to Mr Oliver.” | The expression of personal political views by Canadians or non-Canadians as to which parties or candidates they support is not an offence under the Act,” said Elections Canada spokesman John Enright. “This also applies to Mr Oliver.” |
| Enright also told the news agency that the provision Oliver mentions refers to people who “induce” Canadians: “To induce there must be a tangible thing offered. A personal view is not inducement.” | Enright also told the news agency that the provision Oliver mentions refers to people who “induce” Canadians: “To induce there must be a tangible thing offered. A personal view is not inducement.” |
| Updated at 1.51pm ET | |
| 1.29pm ET18:29 | |
| A Calgary woman penned an open letter to prime minister Stephen Harper to explain why she will not vote for the Conservative party on Monday, even though she says her family is the “picture” of the Canadians who benefit most under his economic policies. | A Calgary woman penned an open letter to prime minister Stephen Harper to explain why she will not vote for the Conservative party on Monday, even though she says her family is the “picture” of the Canadians who benefit most under his economic policies. |
| In the letter, posted on Facebook on 10 October, Mary Cleaver writes: | In the letter, posted on Facebook on 10 October, Mary Cleaver writes: |
| You’ve underestimated us. On October 19, we’re not voting for our bank balance. We’re voting for change because we want the caring Canada of our youth back. The Canada that supported our single mothers that gave us the opportunity to succeed in the first place. | You’ve underestimated us. On October 19, we’re not voting for our bank balance. We’re voting for change because we want the caring Canada of our youth back. The Canada that supported our single mothers that gave us the opportunity to succeed in the first place. |
| Updated at 3.22pm ET | |
| 1.13pm ET18:13 | |
| Jessica Murphy | Jessica Murphy |
| The election as told through campaign ads | The election as told through campaign ads |
| Campaign ads are a key part of any election and Canada’s #elxn42, as it has come to be known on Twitter, is no exception. | Campaign ads are a key part of any election and Canada’s #elxn42, as it has come to be known on Twitter, is no exception. |
| Ads showcase the key message a party wants the electorate to hear and are also a chance for campaign teams to flex creative muscles. | Ads showcase the key message a party wants the electorate to hear and are also a chance for campaign teams to flex creative muscles. |
| The Conservatives have built a reputation on taking down successive Liberal leaders with cleverly crafted attack ads with taglines that stick. | The Conservatives have built a reputation on taking down successive Liberal leaders with cleverly crafted attack ads with taglines that stick. |
| For former leader Michael Ignatieff, who spent years outside of Canada, it was “he didn’t come back for you”. | For former leader Michael Ignatieff, who spent years outside of Canada, it was “he didn’t come back for you”. |
| Soon after Liberal leader Justin Trudeau won his leadership bid, Canadian television aired ads with the tagline “just not ready”. The attacks may not stick this time around, but most Canadians likely have this particular ad memorized. This Liberal response ad was considered bad tactics because Trudeau is repeating the Conservative attack line – usually a no-no for candidates. But this ad broke with convention and is seen as a success. Trailing in the polls, the New Democrats grasped onto the resignation of the Liberal volunteer campaign co-chair in the final week of the race over an email he sent to energy infrastructure TransCanada explaining how to lobby the next government. His actions don’t appear to have broken any rules but it was a definite political blunder. The New Democrat war room was quick to pivot on the controversy. Party ads weren’t the only ones to stand out. An independent candidate from British Columbia made headlines with this wild video. | Soon after Liberal leader Justin Trudeau won his leadership bid, Canadian television aired ads with the tagline “just not ready”. The attacks may not stick this time around, but most Canadians likely have this particular ad memorized. This Liberal response ad was considered bad tactics because Trudeau is repeating the Conservative attack line – usually a no-no for candidates. But this ad broke with convention and is seen as a success. Trailing in the polls, the New Democrats grasped onto the resignation of the Liberal volunteer campaign co-chair in the final week of the race over an email he sent to energy infrastructure TransCanada explaining how to lobby the next government. His actions don’t appear to have broken any rules but it was a definite political blunder. The New Democrat war room was quick to pivot on the controversy. Party ads weren’t the only ones to stand out. An independent candidate from British Columbia made headlines with this wild video. |
| And during his nomination fight Liberal candidate Ron Planche released a pitch that has been dubbed by some the worst campaign ad in history. | And during his nomination fight Liberal candidate Ron Planche released a pitch that has been dubbed by some the worst campaign ad in history. |
| The separatist Bloc Quebecois – seeking electoral salvation after getting nearly wiped out in the largely French-speaking province of Quebec in the 2011 election – were first to raise the issue of niqabs in Canada’s election. | The separatist Bloc Quebecois – seeking electoral salvation after getting nearly wiped out in the largely French-speaking province of Quebec in the 2011 election – were first to raise the issue of niqabs in Canada’s election. |
| This ad is in French, but the visuals tell most of the story. Called “A drop too far”, it warns Quebecers that NDP leader Tom Mulcair isn’t onside with the province’s voters over either the niqab or the proposed Energy East pipeline, which would carry Alberta oil through Quebec. | This ad is in French, but the visuals tell most of the story. Called “A drop too far”, it warns Quebecers that NDP leader Tom Mulcair isn’t onside with the province’s voters over either the niqab or the proposed Energy East pipeline, which would carry Alberta oil through Quebec. |
| Updated at 3.19pm ET | |
| 12.57pm ET17:57 | |
| The woman at the center of the ‘niqab issue’ | The woman at the center of the ‘niqab issue’ |
| Earlier this year, Zunera Ishaq told the Guardian that her choice to wear a veil in public is a “trivial and minor issue”. | Earlier this year, Zunera Ishaq told the Guardian that her choice to wear a veil in public is a “trivial and minor issue”. |
| But for 35 million Canadians, Ishaq’s insistence that she has a right to conceal her face has become a central issue in the ongoing election campaign, giving a late boost to a Conservative government that had previously seemed doomed to defeat. | But for 35 million Canadians, Ishaq’s insistence that she has a right to conceal her face has become a central issue in the ongoing election campaign, giving a late boost to a Conservative government that had previously seemed doomed to defeat. |
| The debate over whether women should be allowed to wear the full face veil at a citizenship ceremony became a wedge issue for both the Bloc Quebecois and for the Conservatives. | The debate over whether women should be allowed to wear the full face veil at a citizenship ceremony became a wedge issue for both the Bloc Quebecois and for the Conservatives. |
| The New Democrats, whose power base is in the province, saw their support fall in part over their disagreement with both the Conservatives and the Bloc over the niqab, which they felt a woman should be allowed to wear. | The New Democrats, whose power base is in the province, saw their support fall in part over their disagreement with both the Conservatives and the Bloc over the niqab, which they felt a woman should be allowed to wear. |
| Read more here. | Read more here. |
| Updated at 1.12pm ET | |
| 12.54pm ET17:54 | |
| John Barber | John Barber |
| John Barber in Toronto sends this dispatch: | John Barber in Toronto sends this dispatch: |
| The Canadian and international media spent a lot of time during this long campaign talking about the rights of Muslim women and the limits of multiculturalism – the so-called “niqab issue”, spurred by the Conservative government’s determination to make one Muslim immigrant from Pakistan remove her face veil before swearing allegiance to her new country. Judging by spilled ink alone, a person would be forgiven for seeing this as the “niqab election”. | The Canadian and international media spent a lot of time during this long campaign talking about the rights of Muslim women and the limits of multiculturalism – the so-called “niqab issue”, spurred by the Conservative government’s determination to make one Muslim immigrant from Pakistan remove her face veil before swearing allegiance to her new country. Judging by spilled ink alone, a person would be forgiven for seeing this as the “niqab election”. |
| But despite the fervor, the issue appears to have had little if any impact on actual voting intentions. Broad trends charted by hundreds of polls show that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives began and ended the campaign with the same 30% support – neither rising nor falling as a result of their provocative stance against immigrant Zunera Ishaq. Outside a few ridings in rural Quebec, the niqab issue looks to be dead on arrival at election day. | But despite the fervor, the issue appears to have had little if any impact on actual voting intentions. Broad trends charted by hundreds of polls show that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives began and ended the campaign with the same 30% support – neither rising nor falling as a result of their provocative stance against immigrant Zunera Ishaq. Outside a few ridings in rural Quebec, the niqab issue looks to be dead on arrival at election day. |
| Follow John on twitter @annegonian | Follow John on twitter @annegonian |
| Updated at 3.21pm ET | |
| 12.41pm ET17:41 | |
| Maclean’s, Canada’s national weekly news magazine, has pinpointed three make or break moments that defined Canada’s marathon election campaign. | Maclean’s, Canada’s national weekly news magazine, has pinpointed three make or break moments that defined Canada’s marathon election campaign. |
| Deciding on what constitutes the turning point is something of a parlour game for political watchers, and it can be debated endlessly. Was it the moment when Justin Trudeau defended his father during the Munk debate on foreign policy, as the Ottawa Citizen’s Mark Kennedy told me recently? Was it Tom Mulcair’s stance on the divisive niqab debate, which put him off side with much of his key vote in Quebec but was hailed as an act of integrity by his supporters? Was it Stephen Harper’s launching of the barbaric cultural practice’s hot line, a paranoid stunt that solidified his turn toward the dark politics of division or was it his income-splitting promise, which could drive middle-class voters to him? | Deciding on what constitutes the turning point is something of a parlour game for political watchers, and it can be debated endlessly. Was it the moment when Justin Trudeau defended his father during the Munk debate on foreign policy, as the Ottawa Citizen’s Mark Kennedy told me recently? Was it Tom Mulcair’s stance on the divisive niqab debate, which put him off side with much of his key vote in Quebec but was hailed as an act of integrity by his supporters? Was it Stephen Harper’s launching of the barbaric cultural practice’s hot line, a paranoid stunt that solidified his turn toward the dark politics of division or was it his income-splitting promise, which could drive middle-class voters to him? |
| Read about the turning points here. | Read about the turning points here. |
| Updated at 3.21pm ET | |
| 12.34pm ET17:34 | |
| Guess who they voted for? | Guess who they voted for? |
| 12.23pm ET17:23 | |
| Hey Americans. Yeah, we’re talking to you. | Hey Americans. Yeah, we’re talking to you. |
| If you’ve been too wrapped up the Donald Trump show to notice the electoral drama unfolding just north of the border, my colleague Nicky Woolf has a nice little piece on why Americans should care about Canada’s nail-bitingly close election. This is especially important for those among you who plan to move there should the US presidential election not go as you hoped. | If you’ve been too wrapped up the Donald Trump show to notice the electoral drama unfolding just north of the border, my colleague Nicky Woolf has a nice little piece on why Americans should care about Canada’s nail-bitingly close election. This is especially important for those among you who plan to move there should the US presidential election not go as you hoped. |
| With Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s party predicted to win the most seats – if not an outright majority – experts say there is a chance of a thaw in relations between the two countries in time to facilitate real action on issues like climate change. | With Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s party predicted to win the most seats – if not an outright majority – experts say there is a chance of a thaw in relations between the two countries in time to facilitate real action on issues like climate change. |
| Of course, the US and Canada are deeply intertwined economically. Each is the other’s largest trading partner: trade between the two countries in 2012 – the most recent year for which data is available from the Office of the United States Trade Representative – totalled $707bn. | Of course, the US and Canada are deeply intertwined economically. Each is the other’s largest trading partner: trade between the two countries in 2012 – the most recent year for which data is available from the Office of the United States Trade Representative – totalled $707bn. |
| Canada is also the world’s largest national importer of US goods, spending $51bn a year on US-made cars alone. It is also the second-largest importer of US agricultural products ... | Canada is also the world’s largest national importer of US goods, spending $51bn a year on US-made cars alone. It is also the second-largest importer of US agricultural products ... |
| “For our American cousins, the relationship is consequential. For us, it has often been definitional,” Trudeau said earlier this year. | “For our American cousins, the relationship is consequential. For us, it has often been definitional,” Trudeau said earlier this year. |
| Read more here. | Read more here. |
| Updated at 1.55pm ET | |
| 12.05pm ET17:05 | |
| While millions of Canadians are heading to the polls today, roughly 1.4 million won’t have a say. | While millions of Canadians are heading to the polls today, roughly 1.4 million won’t have a say. |
| Under a law upheld by an appeals court last July, Canadians who are old enough to vote and have lived abroad for five or more years cannot vote are barred from voting in Canadian federal elections. | Under a law upheld by an appeals court last July, Canadians who are old enough to vote and have lived abroad for five or more years cannot vote are barred from voting in Canadian federal elections. |
| The Guardian’s Canadian expats, Ruth Spencer and Laurence Mathieu-Léger, spoke to disenfranchised Canadians living in New York City at a demonstration against prime minister Stephen Harper in Brooklyn last week. | The Guardian’s Canadian expats, Ruth Spencer and Laurence Mathieu-Léger, spoke to disenfranchised Canadians living in New York City at a demonstration against prime minister Stephen Harper in Brooklyn last week. |
| People like me have no other citizenship. I have no right to vote anywhere. – Gillian Frank | People like me have no other citizenship. I have no right to vote anywhere. – Gillian Frank |
| Updated at 3.22pm ET | |
| 11.51am ET16:51 | |
| When elections roll around, editorial boards like to have their say. | When elections roll around, editorial boards like to have their say. |
| BuzzFeed Canada’s has spoken. With cheeky puns and firm judgement, the website has endorsed Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista’s “damn fine booty”. | BuzzFeed Canada’s has spoken. With cheeky puns and firm judgement, the website has endorsed Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista’s “damn fine booty”. |
| The endorsement is apparently catching fire. | The endorsement is apparently catching fire. |
| Updated at 11.55am ET | |
| 11.34am ET16:34 | |
| Who’s Stephen Harper? What are Canada’s political parties? What’s a riding? Who’s in the lead? Here’s everything you need to know to understand today’s election, thank to my colleague Alberto Nardelli. | Who’s Stephen Harper? What are Canada’s political parties? What’s a riding? Who’s in the lead? Here’s everything you need to know to understand today’s election, thank to my colleague Alberto Nardelli. |
| 11.23am ET16:23 | |
| While non-citizens dare not try to influence the Canadian election, these front pages can. | While non-citizens dare not try to influence the Canadian election, these front pages can. |
| In a final push ahead of Monday’s election, The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, Fort McMurray Today, among other newspapers, replaced their front pages with near-full-page spreads endorsing the Tories, The Huffington Post reports. | In a final push ahead of Monday’s election, The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, Fort McMurray Today, among other newspapers, replaced their front pages with near-full-page spreads endorsing the Tories, The Huffington Post reports. |
| The spreads said either “Voting Liberal will cost you,” or “Voting NDP or Liberal will cost you,” followed by explanations of how those parties’ platforms would affect voters. There was also a ballot-style checkbox marking a “Conservative” vote. | The spreads said either “Voting Liberal will cost you,” or “Voting NDP or Liberal will cost you,” followed by explanations of how those parties’ platforms would affect voters. There was also a ballot-style checkbox marking a “Conservative” vote. |
| Spare a thought for the journalists who work diligently for papers that sold a front page today. Not their choice. pic.twitter.com/Dx2ZN7gGGa | Spare a thought for the journalists who work diligently for papers that sold a front page today. Not their choice. pic.twitter.com/Dx2ZN7gGGa |
| Updated at 11.37am ET | |
| 11.14am ET16:14 | |
| Last Week Tonight host John Oliver wants the Canadian people to vote prime minister Stephen Harper out of office. But saying so could land him behind bars. | Last Week Tonight host John Oliver wants the Canadian people to vote prime minister Stephen Harper out of office. But saying so could land him behind bars. |
| Under Canadian election law, it’s illegal for non-citizens to try to influence a Canadian election – a violation punishable by a $5,000 fine or jail time, or both. But Oliver said he wasn’t scared of spending six months in a Canadian jail. | Under Canadian election law, it’s illegal for non-citizens to try to influence a Canadian election – a violation punishable by a $5,000 fine or jail time, or both. But Oliver said he wasn’t scared of spending six months in a Canadian jail. |
| “If telling you not to vote for Stephen Harper is going to cost me $5,000, I’m going to get my money’s worth and do it in the most Canadian way possible,” Oliver promised. | “If telling you not to vote for Stephen Harper is going to cost me $5,000, I’m going to get my money’s worth and do it in the most Canadian way possible,” Oliver promised. |
| On stage, Oliver was joined by a beaver wearing a maple leaf shirt playing Sweet Caroline on a keyboard, a moose getting a colonoscopy under Canada’s “fantastic single-payer health care system”, and native son Mike Myers dressed as a mountie driving a snowplow, who declares: “Don’t vote for Stephen Harper.” | On stage, Oliver was joined by a beaver wearing a maple leaf shirt playing Sweet Caroline on a keyboard, a moose getting a colonoscopy under Canada’s “fantastic single-payer health care system”, and native son Mike Myers dressed as a mountie driving a snowplow, who declares: “Don’t vote for Stephen Harper.” |
| The scene ends with Oliver declaring that Stephen Harper doesn’t care about black people, a reference to the moment 10 years ago when Kanye West, standing next to Myers, said on national TV: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” during a benefit concert for Katrina victims. | The scene ends with Oliver declaring that Stephen Harper doesn’t care about black people, a reference to the moment 10 years ago when Kanye West, standing next to Myers, said on national TV: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” during a benefit concert for Katrina victims. |
| “Oh God, not again,” Myers groans. | “Oh God, not again,” Myers groans. |
| Oliver corrects himself. “Stephen Harper doesn’t care about Muslim people.” | Oliver corrects himself. “Stephen Harper doesn’t care about Muslim people.” |
| Myers: “Totally fair.” Oliver flings Canadian dollars at the screen and they all dance. Oh Canada. | Myers: “Totally fair.” Oliver flings Canadian dollars at the screen and they all dance. Oh Canada. |
| Updated at 1.49pm ET | |
| 10.48am ET15:48 | |
| Canadians head to the polls today for what seems set to be the closest election in the country’s history following a marathon campaign cycle. | Canadians head to the polls today for what seems set to be the closest election in the country’s history following a marathon campaign cycle. |
| Just in the last three weeks the centre-left Liberal party, led by Justin Trudeau – son of famous former prime minister Pierre Trudeau – has surged into the lead, while the one-time pole position-holders, the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Tom Mulcair, have dropped to third place. | Just in the last three weeks the centre-left Liberal party, led by Justin Trudeau – son of famous former prime minister Pierre Trudeau – has surged into the lead, while the one-time pole position-holders, the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Tom Mulcair, have dropped to third place. |
| Barring a surprise in today’s result - and after the polling upset in the UK election earlier this year introduced the world to the concept of “shy Tories”, one is not entirely out of the question – Trudeau looks set to oust incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative party from power. | Barring a surprise in today’s result - and after the polling upset in the UK election earlier this year introduced the world to the concept of “shy Tories”, one is not entirely out of the question – Trudeau looks set to oust incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative party from power. |
| The Liberals may be leading, but current projections suggest that they will not be able to win the 170 seats required for a parliamentary majority on their own. There have been hints throughout the campaign that the NDP may be willing to enter into a coalition with the Liberals, but no outright promises; and a minority government, where legislation is negotiated on an ad hoc basis, is also a potential outcome. | The Liberals may be leading, but current projections suggest that they will not be able to win the 170 seats required for a parliamentary majority on their own. There have been hints throughout the campaign that the NDP may be willing to enter into a coalition with the Liberals, but no outright promises; and a minority government, where legislation is negotiated on an ad hoc basis, is also a potential outcome. |
| Places to watch: ridings – electoral districts – in downtown Toronto and Vancouver, many of which are Liberal/NDP marginal seats, will indicate how united the support is behind the centrist Liberals, and act as good bellwethers. In the greater Toronto area, suburban seats like Ajax, where the conservatives wiped the Liberals out in 2011, will show how much support Harper has lost to the Liberals among his base; the Conservative incumbent, immigration minister Chris Alexander, looks set to be ousted by the Liberal MP Alexander toppled in 2011, Mark Holland. | Places to watch: ridings – electoral districts – in downtown Toronto and Vancouver, many of which are Liberal/NDP marginal seats, will indicate how united the support is behind the centrist Liberals, and act as good bellwethers. In the greater Toronto area, suburban seats like Ajax, where the conservatives wiped the Liberals out in 2011, will show how much support Harper has lost to the Liberals among his base; the Conservative incumbent, immigration minister Chris Alexander, looks set to be ousted by the Liberal MP Alexander toppled in 2011, Mark Holland. |
| Meanwhile the oil-rich province of Alberta, where Harper is himself an MP, will be useful for seeing if the NDP can maintain the anti-Conservative sentiment which saw them win provincial power here in a sensational revolt against Harper’s party back in May. | Meanwhile the oil-rich province of Alberta, where Harper is himself an MP, will be useful for seeing if the NDP can maintain the anti-Conservative sentiment which saw them win provincial power here in a sensational revolt against Harper’s party back in May. |
| Polling has been staggered across Canada’s timezones in the hope that a result might be available at roughly the same time. Polls opened at 9.30am eastern time in Ontario, and an hour later in British Columbia, on the west coast (7.30am local time). Results will start pouring in pretty quickly after the polls close, at 9.30pm eastern in Ontario and 10.30pm eastern in British Columbia. | Polling has been staggered across Canada’s timezones in the hope that a result might be available at roughly the same time. Polls opened at 9.30am eastern time in Ontario, and an hour later in British Columbia, on the west coast (7.30am local time). Results will start pouring in pretty quickly after the polls close, at 9.30pm eastern in Ontario and 10.30pm eastern in British Columbia. |
| Stay with us – it could be a bumpy ride. | Stay with us – it could be a bumpy ride. |